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UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians Theatre Awards 2017, took place on Tuesday evening (6 June), after the first day of the ABTT Theatre Show at Alexandra Palace, London.
With drinks in the venue’s Palm Court, followed by a ceremony in the Londesborough Room, the event provided the perfect opportunity for exhibitors and visitors alike to gather and celebrate good technology and excellent technical practice.
In a break with tradition, comic Tim Fitzhigham warmed up proceedings with his observations on technicians, gigging and awards with ‘Widget’ in the title. Introduced by Tim, ABTT CEO Robin Townley then enlightened those gathered with the judges’ deliberations, relayed their commendations and announced the winners. ABTT Chairwoman Louise Jeffreys, the Barbican’s director of arts, presented each winner with one of the coveted hook-clamp troph

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USA - It’s Summertime and the spinning is competitive as the DMC USA DJ battle season comes to a close, and the 2017 DMC US Finals approaches. Peavey Electronics returns as a sponsor of the national championship this year, ensuring that DJs competing for their chance to represent the US at the 2017 DMC World Finals in London can turn out the highest-quality audio and potentially walk away with top-tier prizes.
While DMC regional champs prepare for the national championship, Peavey is preparing to send them some of the best pro-audio gear in the industry. All first-place regional winners from across the country will receive a PV 10 AT mixer, and the national champion will receive a pair of Peavey Dark Matter DM 112 speakers and a DM 115 subwoofer.
(Jim Evans)

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UK - The Gus Dudgeon Foundation and JAMES have confirmed that their Post Graduate Summer Course will take place on 10 July 2017 at Leeds Beckett University.
Now in its seventh year, the course will be led by renowned producer and Leeds Beckett senior lecturer Ken Scott who will guide 12 top-graduating students from JAMES accredited courses through five days of recording on both analogue and digital systems.
Ken Scott is responsible for recordings by a wide range of artists including The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton john, Pink Floyd and Supertramp.
The artists being recorded this year consist of musicians Matt Deighton (guitar), Steve White (drums) and Ben Trigg (bass)
Funding for this opportunity has been met by The Gus Dudgeon Foundation, Leeds Beckett University and JAMES’ sponsors, who so far include SSL and PMC and KMR.
(Jim Evans)

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India - During the Palm Expo Mumbai trade show, MA team members kept a keen eye on companies offering and selling MA copies. Says the company: “In a couple of cases, these copies were identified and MA successfully ensured that they were immediately banned from the booth of the offering company.
“Furthermore, MA made it extremely clear to these companies that it will not tolerate anyone selling or distributing copies, and that MA reserves the right to take legal action against anyone engaging in this practice.
“Additionally, all companies offering MA copies were prompted to delete all catalogues, brochures etc. displaying or referring to MA copies. MA Lighting products are protected by a wide range of patents, which include software, hardware and design, whether used on Linux or Windows platforms.
MA Lighting really appreciates the support given by the org

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Ireland - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) have been appointed as the exclusive distributor in Ireland for the Luminex range of high performance networking solutions, following a successful partnership with the brand since being appointed as their exclusive UK distributor in 2014.
Over the past three years, AC-ET have employed their extensive industry knowledge and experience to grow the adoption of Luminex products to their large customer base of entertainment technology dealers and end users.
Neil Vann, AC-ET’s brand manager for Luminex commented: “Luminex have built a great reputation and client base here in the UK, with their high-quality products and fantastic customer service. Their products are innovative and user friendly. We were delighted when the deal was confirmed for us to be their exclusive distributor for Ireland as well.”
Sales manage

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Europe – “Showtime is showtime” – a simple phrase used by Matt Finke, general manager and creative director of loop light GmbH, to sum up how they put on some of the most thrilling live shows for big brand names in Europe and make them go without a hitch. Relying on technology to deliver on the day, they recently added a further 10 Christie Pandoras Box Quad Server Systems, opting for the highest configuration of the latest Pandoras Box Sever, PK5 with 14.4TB SSD storage, sync/genlock option and 10GB network LAN.
The move doubles the number of servers loop light already has in its high-performance portfolio. “Productions are becoming more and more demanding. We want to offer our clients an unrestricted service when it comes to productivity and flexibility – really give them a complete toolkit with no compromises,” explains Finke. No stranger to the software and

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Denmark - In celebration of its 25th anniversary, DPA Microphones has announced the launch of its 25-event DPA Get Closer World Tour.
The tour will allow audio enthusiasts to learn from the best Masters of Audio, as well as network with their peers at full day educational Master Class events around the world. The Masters of Audio will share their experiences, show their best tricks and give hands-on demos of miking techniques for achieving the best result in various applications. In addition, microphone experts from DPA’s headquarters in Denmark will be on-site to demonstrate and provide technical background information on the company’s various microphone types.
The tour kicks off in the US with events in New York on 27 June, 2017 at the National Sawdust Theatre and in Los Angeles on 29 June 2017 at NeueHouse.
In New York, Jim van Bergen - theatrical sound

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One Love Manchester - The benefit concert held in the wake of the Manchester attack turned into a night of unity, healing and joy for 50,000 music fans. The all-star show was held to remember the victims of the suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May. Despite the circumstances, a celebratory atmosphere prevailed as Grande herself returned to the stage. She told the crowd: "I want to thank you for coming together and being so loving and strong and unified."
Visibly moved at times, the 23-year-old US singer performed with Miley Cyrus and the Black Eyed Peas, while other highlights were provided by Katy Perry, Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Liam Gallagher and Justin Bieber. The concert at Old Trafford cricket ground was watched by an average of 10.9m viewers, peaking at 14.5m as the gig drew to a close.
River Stage Postponed - The National Theatre has pos

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USA - The summer is off to a full swing, with massive tours hitting the road, meaning Bandit Lites has again invested in increasing its already expansive touring inventory, this time purchasing Robe PATT 2013 fixtures.
While harkening back to vintage, broadcast lighting looks, the elegant design of the Robe PATT 2013 provides a new element of mood and stage lighting, all the while considering the need for lighting designers to utilize fixtures that will not only meet the booming retro-style trend, but also provide warm tungsten eye-candy looks.
“The Robe Patt 2013 brings a cool, sleek, retro conventional fixture to our inventory,” said Bandit’s director of technical services, Jake Tickle. “Robe has done a great job bringing this style of fixture back to the market, with more offerings in this range on the way.”
These fixtures have been most recently uti

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UK - The Royal Television Society (RTS), Britain's leading forum for television and related media, has launched the RTS Craft & Design Awards 2017. The Awards celebrate excellence in broadcast television and aim to recognise the huge variety of skills and processes involved in programme production.
Awards are presented in 11 categories including: Design, Make Up Design, Costume Design, Production Design, Effects, Directors, Photography, Lighting and Multicamera, Sound, Editing and Music. In addition, there are three awards given at the discretion of the Judges: Design & Craft Innovation, Judges’ and Lifetime Achievement Awards. Entries are not accepted for these categories but the RTS welcomes suggestions.
This year will see Lee Connolly, creative director at ITV Studios, take over as chair of the awards from former chair, Cheryl Taylor. He says: “The RTS C

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UK - Following the signing of a four year, £10m contract to deliver temporary infrastructure to the European Tour, Arena Group was once again entrusted to supply the BMW PGA Championship, which this year was the first of eight premium golfing events in the Tour’s inaugural Rolex Series.
This year’s tournament – held from 25-28 May– saw Sweden’s Alex Noren emerge victorious on 11 under par 277, following a sensational final round 62 which saw him claim his ninth European Tour title. It also saw Arena Group return to transform the structures around the prestigious course.
Jamie Birkmyre, director of championship management and championship director of the BMW PGA Championship, says: “Arena Group has amassed a wealth of experience over the years understanding the requirements of the European Tour which underpinned them being selected through a competitive te

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Europe - Overlooking the River Rhine, where it links the lower and upper regions of Lake Konstanz, Bodenseeforum is a new conference venue conveniently located at the centre of Europe’s ‘four country region’ of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein. A very versatile audio mixing solution was needed for this ‘modular’ venue, solved by the installation of three Yamaha QL1 digital consoles.
The 2000m2 Bodenseeforum is designed to allow all of its spaces to be configured to the exact size and seating requirements of any event. With many possible combinations of plenum, breakout room and foyer available, a flexible and easily moved mixing solution was needed to ensure that all events enjoy high quality sound, regardless of how the space is configured.
Stefan Praxl, founder of Praxl Licht- & Tontechnik GmbH, was asked to provide the Bodenseeforum audi

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UK - An Adamson S10 line array system supplied by pro audio specialists, The Warehouse Sound Services in conjunction with local sound provider A&R Martin ensured power, precision and audio clarity during the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s performance of Amadeus Live at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall last month.
Last week, Edinburgh’s Usher Hall and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall held a remarkable screening with Mozart's music performed live by the full RSNO and RSNO Chorus conducted by Ludwig Wicki.
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is one of Europe's leading orchestras with a history stretching back over 120 years. The RSNO chorus evolved in 1843 to form a choir. Today the RSNO Chorus is one of the most successful in the UK. As well as performing with the RSNO the choir also performs with orchestras throughout the

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Europe - LiteCom, the Denmark-based production rental specialist, provided extensive lighting networking and rigging equipment and services for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv, Ukraine. This year's contest saw 42 countries compete across three live broadcast shows, with the final being watched by an estimated 200m people worldwide.
This was Litecom's fourth Eurovision as a key supplier, and once again the company rose to the challenge of providing vital technical infrastructure for the world's largest televised music event. Litecom worked in close partnership with PRG Europe to fulfil the large-scale technical demands of the show, with lighting designer Jerry Appelt's rig utilising over 1,800 lighting fixtures throughout Kyiv's 11,000-capacity International Exhibition Centre.
While PRG provided the main elements of the lighting rig, Litecom provided the MA Lig

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Belgium - Chauvet DJ distributors from countries throughout Europe gathered at Chauvet’s European HQ near Ghent, Belgium last week for a day of new product demonstrations, discussions and networking.
In addition to speeches from CEO Albert Chauvet and European general manager Michael Brooksbank, the event gave guests the opportunity to learn about several of Chauvet DJ’s latest fixture releases, including the Intimidator Spot 375Z IRC, Intimidator Hybrid 140SR, Intimidator Beam 140SR and the EVE E-100Z, as well as some forthcoming products yet to be released. Guests also enjoyed an evening buffet with drinks and a tour of the historical city of Ghent.
“This was an excellent opportunity for us to bring our Chauvet DJ distributors from Europe together to exchange insights and ideas,” commented Albert Chauvet. “It was heartening to see so many passionate people

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UK - Unusual Rigging has been recognised for its support in the delivery of the Rio 2016 Olympics at the British Brazilian Awards during Think Brazil Week – a series of cultural and business events held in the UK to promote and showcase opportunities in Brazil.
The ceremony, which was held at the Foreign and Commonwealth office in London on Thursday 18 May, was an occasion to celebrate business success stories in recognition of the outstanding achievements of both Brazilian and British Companies.
Mark Priestley, Unusual's head of major projects who received the award, said: "We are delighted to have been recognised for our work at Rio 2016 and to have been at a ceremony which brought together so many influential and innovative companies. We worked closely with DIT (formerly UKTI) for Rio, using their services to locate local partners to help us build towers, provide

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Europe - Singer/songwriter Banks has cultivated a reputation for being a little bit mysterious which has worked in terms of building a fan-base with a strongly melodic sound that’s been described as “dark R‘n’B”.
With second studio album The Altar released mid-2016, the touring schedule and the production values moved up a level, and with that, lighting designer Ali Pike was asked to add her creativity. Robe Spiiders were the lights of choice for the first leg of European and UK dates.
Ali chose Spiiders for a number of artistic and practical reasons – tech’ing as well as operating on her own, she needed a lightweight fixture that was extremely versatile and basically a good tourable hybrid floor package.
She received a few pointers from Banks’ management and creative team, including a preference for certain colours like red. They also gav

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UK - Mobile Promotions oversaw the event delivery of Her Majesty The Queen’s royal visit to Dunstable for the grand opening of independent living home Priory View.
Event management specialist, Mobile Promotions, worked closely with the Bedfordshire County Council to manage the event production of the prestigious royal occasion. The event saw Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh officially open the award-winning independent living development, in attendance were 50 VIPs and over 100 residents and colleagues from Dunstable County Council involved in the build and running of Priory View.
Careful consideration had to be given to each event space, sound and security procedures throughout the building. Constructed out of glass panelling and based in a busy city centre location, Mobile Promotions ensured the building remained visually secure throughout the royal

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UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd (AC-ET) – authorised resellers of Allen & Heath’s flagship dLive digital mixing system – has announced two certified training sessions at its dedicated facilities in High Wycombe and Leeds on 20 and 22 June respectively.
The courses will be run by experienced trainers from Audio-Technica, Allen & Heath’s exclusive UK distributor, who will be sharing their extensive knowledge of dLive and its applications.
The all-day course is designed specifically for existing dLive users, touring engineers and those looking to upgrade to dLive. It is built around an immersive combination of presentation and hands-on training, designed to showcase dLive’s power and flexibility across multiple applications. Attendees will receive “certified engineer” status on completion of the course and a selection of Allen & Heath an

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UK - Aurora continue to invest in energy efficient light sources with a host of new additions to their LED product range.
As part of a pan-company programme to invest in both products and people, broadcast lighting specialists Aurora are expanding their range of LED and low energy light sources with a significant intake of new equipment.
Commenting on the investment, head of lighting at VER and Aurora, David March says: “As lighting technology continues to move forward we are witnessing a definite shift in the preference for specifying LED products. To properly reflect this growing trend we are making sure we have the very latest technology available to clients operating throughout all areas of our industry.”
Following on from the recent purchase of Chroma-Q Space Force, Rosco Silk 210 and Mole Richardson Vari-Soft Softlights, Aurora have now grown their inve

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Singapore - Award winning Lighting designer Yo Shao Ann used Robe’s new Viva CMY LED spots, Spiider wash beams and CycBar 15 battens on the recent production of Tropicana the Musical in Singapore. The much talked about show was produced by Tan Kheng Hua for Spare Room Productions and directed by Beatrice Chia-Richmond.
The 10 VIVA CMYs utilized in the show were part of the first shipment into the region of these new fixtures from Robe – launched at the Prolight+Sound expo last month in Frankfurt.
They were supplied to the production via rental company Expo AV-InSync, along with the Spiiders and CycBar 15s from their rental stock. The company headed by Gerard Rodrigues were the first in the region to invest in Robe Spiiders when that luminaire was launched late last year.
Jens Poehlker from Robe’s Asia Pacific office was involved in ensuring that all

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UK - Breakin’ Convention festival of hip hop dance takes place annually at the famous Sadler’s Well Theatre, Rosebery Avenue, London. The 14th edition of the festival was curated and hosted by UK hip hop pioneer Jonzi D and the technical team at Sadler’s saw the opportunity to bring in something extraordinary to the sound aspect to match the incredible action on stage.
Head of sound Mark Noble was looking for a suitable opportunity to evaluate KV2 Audio products having enjoyed the results achieved on other West End shows and having become increasingly aware of the rising prominence of KV2 in the wider Theatre industry.
With a total capacity approaching 1800 across stalls, a first and second circle Sadler’s Wells’ main auditorium is impressive.
In spite of the size of the venue, just a single ESR 2.15 Active-Driven full range cabinet was used per side

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South Africa/USA - Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas and the help from the SOS Charity Fund, South African lighting technician Malesela Josias Mashiane, is heading off to Las Vegas to attend training to further his career.
In 2016, Josias attended the Movers, Media and Rock’n’ Roll 3 week training class in lighting consoles, systems, and programming (at the Stagecraft Institute) and due to his success, was invited back again this year for the next level of Track 2 and five additional weeks of full tech training. His plight to raise funds to attend this course which kicks off in June became known to DWR Distribution who head the SOS Charity Fund.
The SOS agreed to pay for Josias’ travel costs and to contribute to his living expenses during his stay in the United States. Jane Childs (life partner and widow of SILV founder D

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Italy - Leading Italian lighting manufacturer Claypaky is proud to have been the Headline Sponsor and host of the Showlight 2017 conference, which closed on 23 May after three extremely successful days in Florence. Over a three-year period, the Claypaky team has worked closely with the Showlight committee to help produce this extraordinary event.
Showlight combines a unique mix of elements - a world-class conference, an exhibition of manufacturers and service providers, and a rich and varied social and cultural programme designed to maximize networking opportunities among delegates, manufacturers, lighting designers and students. Attracting a broad range of the world's leading lighting designers and practitioners, Showlight happens just once every four years, and has long been a favourite event on the professional show lighting industry's calendar.
Staged in the beauti
  1. GCS extends Adamson inventory
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  4. PLASA Show is back to celebrate its 40th Anniversary
  5. The Week in Light & Sound
  6. Russian rental company adds dLive C Class
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